Pad swap of the Z45 is incredibly easy. You remove a bridge, pop them out, done. I seem to recall the rear Z34 is a one piece caliper so you have to remove it, but rear pads wear at half the rate of fronts so you should be fine.

I'm driving my E92 with the PFC12 pads and cold bite is just fine and they squeal very little. I've had other brakes with track pads that would wake up the dead when coming to a stop, but that is not the case with the PFC12s.

I get 30 days out of the front pads so it is not something I swap often! BW does stock them, but the people who run this kit are very serious and seem to buy multiple at a time, so even BW runs out. I have not once had a oh shit moment but as I said, I keep spares at home.

I was not trying to discourage you from buying the PFC BBK. It is an exceptional kit and likely the most track oriented of anything you can buy. I do not 'need' the BBK either but it makes me very happy to brake with my big toe and outbrake whatever, and I mean whatever is in front of me. I have never once had knockback and the confidence to push the braking zones is huge.
I can use slicks and the brakes continue to respond exactly the same.
Another way to put it: a friend of mine comes from Barcelona to the US every year for a month of track days. I let him borrow one of my Ms and he, my brother and I do 9 track days together
He drove my E92 with the PFC kit one session, got out and wired 9k$ to my account for me to bring him a set in my next trip there. They are that good.

The PFC kit is a race kit though. Mine has some pad slap on the street.

Wow! That's exactly what I want- confidence in braking at track days, and the feeling that I can out brake anything else out there. Having a reliable, consistent and perhaps over-the-top braking system would make track days that much more fun, and give me more confidence to push the car harder/not lift so early on the straights. It's what I love about driving the boxster on track, though it just has street pads, the pedal is extremely firm and begs to be pushed hard, though they can fade pretty bad (what else do you expect from stock pads).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vox Populi

I've run the PFC DD rotors with OEM Calipers.

I've run a full Stoptech Kit

I now run the Essex AP Kit and honestly, the performance it provides over the ST kit is significant.

Lots and lots of things to consider when purchasing - many of them already outlined in this thread.

Don't buy into the whole 'bigger is always better' mantra. The Essex AP front is a 4 piston on a 325mm rotor and I can tell you unequivocally it stops better than the ST60 355mm kit I came from.

I've made a number of posts about it in my thread; check them out if you are interested in some of the finer details.

Thanks for the input. I will probably end up deciding on either the PFC Z45 brakes or AP kit you have.

Another question I have is (though I may not see much of a response), does anyone know of a method to keep the stock rear calipers and mount them in addition to something like the PFC Z34 rear brakes, for use of a hydraulic handbrake (dual rear calipers)? I essentially need a bracket to mount the stock calipers around the PFC rotors, right? I suppose I'll have to visit some BMW drifting-specific forums

Wow! That's exactly what I want- confidence in braking at track days, and the feeling that I can out brake anything else out there. Having a reliable, consistent and perhaps over-the-top braking system would make track days that much more fun, and give me more confidence to push the car harder/not lift so early on the straights. It's what I love about driving the boxster on track, though it just has street pads, the pedal is extremely firm and begs to be pushed hard, though they can fade pretty bad (what else do you expect from stock pads).

Thanks for the input. I will probably end up deciding on either the PFC Z45 brakes or AP kit you have.

Another question I have is (though I may not see much of a response), does anyone know of a method to keep the stock rear calipers and mount them in addition to something like the PFC Z34 rear brakes, for use of a hydraulic handbrake (dual rear calipers)? I essentially need a bracket to mount the stock calipers around the PFC rotors, right? I suppose I'll have to visit some BMW drifting-specific forums

The PFC kit is definitely well into the 'retarded' zone. The E92 is always double tracked and regardless of the tires used it doesn't flinch.

PFC Z45 355mm with the 12 pads. Agree with the above comments that the street pads blow, but my 12's are dead quiet on the street when I do drive the car. Pads are much thicker than comparable calipers and last what seems like forever. Downside is price, the MSRP has gone up and there is a backorder on kits.

I run the OE rear caliper with 11's. Rear PFC kit would be nice but I hear you run through pads pretty quickly with it, not to mention the upfront cost.

I would add couple of factors for your consideration as well:
- Are you sure you need a BBK?
1- If you have less than 20 days track time then stay away
2- Have you upgraded to race pads / fluid / lines / duct cooling before putting 5k+ on a BBK?

The comparison... i think they dont use the same pad compound in all calipers (didn't read the article).

PFC Z45 355mm with the 12 pads. Agree with the above comments that the street pads blow, but my 12's are dead quiet on the street when I do drive the car. Pads are much thicker than comparable calipers and last what seems like forever. Downside is price, the MSRP has gone up and there is a backorder on kits.

I run the OE rear caliper with 11's. Rear PFC kit would be nice but I hear you run through pads pretty quickly with it, not to mention the upfront cost.

Alex will tell you differently

Pads are much, much thicker than comparable calipers. People can't believe it when they see how thick it is (that's what she said)

I would have loved to get a PFC kit for my E46 M3 but the price was amazing for the ST60 and ST22 Trophy kit option from Stop Tech. (my cost was less than paying for their regular ST40 kit) The trophy kit doesn't have the knock back issue as bad as their regular kits do.

Mine is a track duty only car and l like the pad options with Stop Tech. I am currently running the Pagid yellow RS 29 pads and they have a much higher initial torque bite than the PFC 08 pads that I used to run on the oem set up.

Good luck on your choice.

__________________Walking isn't a lost art - one must, by some means, get to the garage.

Briefly making the case for why I have felt no need to move on from my brembos:
-totally silent on the street
-awesome street pads (brembo's own)-- as good as the stock pads on the M3
-tons of pad options in general (including stoptech and pfc)
-tons of rotor options (including stoptech, though once was enough for me on that)
-no pad knock back
-durable finish on the calipers
-long life on the calipers (I'm 120,000 miles into mine, including ~10,000 track miles, haven't needed a rebuild yet)
-awesome pedal feel
-they brake really freaking well

Things that are good enough:
Pad swap ease. Calipers can stay on, but it's more of a pain than other systems out there

Things I don't like:
Barrel clearance (can't run any 17" wheel with the 355/4 brembos)
-pad thickness. They're not bad by any stretch, they're just not crazy good like some of the other options (PFC, Essex AP)

Overall, I like that they're only better than stock-- winter, summer, street, track-- nothing gives me regrets. And the pad shape is so ubiquitous, that any new compound that comes out from any company will be offered.

My car is street first, track second-- if it was a decicated track car, I'd likely go for something with thicker pads. But with my priorities for it, I think the brembos are the best option out there.

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